This invention is directed to a device that allows easy determination of the dimensional class of mail pieces.
Postal requirements in various countries are now utilizing dimensions of each mail piece, as well as the weight, to determine delivery charges. For purposes of dimensional mail piece rating, there are several different categories each bounded by maximum dimensions of length, width and thickness.
A simple, but not convenient or always effective, manner of determining the dimensions of a mail piece is to hold a ruler or tape measure to each of the three dimensions of the mail piece and to read the length/width/thickness of the mail piece from the rule/tape measure scale. If the thickness of the mail piece is greatest away from its periphery, it may not be feasible to get an accurate thickness measurement by this method.
A somewhat more sophisticated approach uses a cardboard template that has the length and width limits displayed together as a rectangle. The template may also include a slot through which the mail piece may be passed to test for compliance with the thickness limit. However, there is considerable room for error in attempting to match the edges of the mail piece to the sides of the template rectangle, or in the user's view point in trying to appraise whether the envelope fits within the rectangle boundaries in close cases. Also, it may be somewhat awkward to pass the mail piece through the slot, even assuming the mail piece is thin enough to fit.